Department of Chemical Engineering

Dr. Sontti Somasekhara Goud is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Dharwad. Prior to joining IIT Dharwad, he worked as a Post-doctoral fellow at the University of Alberta and Polytechnic Montreal in Canada. Dr. Sekhar earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering Department from IIT Kharagpur. Dr. Sekhar research interests encompass a broad range of fluid mechanics topics, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), multiphase flows, microfluidics, fluidization, and slurry transport, as well as their applications in chemical engineering.

Dr. Suvamay Jana is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT dhArwAD. Suvamay comes with more than 6 years of professional experience in the domain of biocatalysis, drug discovery, API formulation, and drug delivery. Prior to joining IIT dhArwAD, he was working as a lead design engineer at Becton Dickinson, one of the world’s largest medical device companies. Suvamay earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kentucky in the USA in 2017.

Dr. Ravi Chandra Dutta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology dhArwAD since April 2023. His research interests lie in the development of gas separation membranes and the design of energy storage materials. Prior to joining IIT dhArwAD as a faculty member, he received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Queensland (2019). He worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany.

Dr. Ashok Kumar Ummireddi has been an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad since November 2024. His research primarily involves developing electrocatalysts and strategies for electrochemical CO₂ conversion, (Photo-)electrochemical water splitting and H₂ production, and electrochemical NH₃ synthesis. Before joining IIT Dharwad as an Assistant Professor, he worked as an Assistant Professor (Grade II) at IIT Goa and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of Cincinnati, USA. He received his M. Tech-Ph.D. (Joint Degree) in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (2021).

Dr. C. Ravikumar joined IIT Dharwad as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering in January 2025. His research focuses on colloids and interface science, nanoparticle synthesis, mechanisms, modeling and simulation, catalysis, drug delivery, process design, and water treatment.
Before joining IIT Dharwad, he worked as an Assistant Professor at VNIT Nagpur, an Associate Professor at SSN College of Engineering, Chennai, and a Research Scientist at Battelle Science and Technology, Pune. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay and received the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from his department. He also pursued postdoctoral research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, USA.
Dr. Ravikumar has published several research papers in international journals and conferences and has filed two patents. He has received the Best Oral and Poster Presentation Award at the 4th Asian Particle Technology Symposium, the Best Oral Presentation Award at IIT Bombay’s Research Scholar Symposium, and the Best Employee Award at Battelle Science and Technology, Pune.
He is a reviewer for various international journals, including Crystal Growth and Design, Inorganic Chemistry, Advanced Powder Technology, Chemical Engineering Journal, Applied Nanoscience, and Indian Chemical Engineer. Dr. Ravikumar has received research grants from government agencies and industries and has organized several workshops, seminars, conferences, and outreach activities.